Alone
by candysweet
Summary: I could not awaken my heart to joy at the same tone, and all I lov’d, I lov’d alone...
1. A Lesson in Seriousness

I do not own Inu-yasha.

Alone

From childhood's hour I have not been

As others were-I have not seen

As others saw-I could not bring

My passions from a common spring-

From the same source I have not taken

My sorrow-I could not awaken

My heart to joy at the same tone-

And all I lov'd-I lov'd alone-

Then-in my childhood-in the dawn

Of a most stormy life-was drawn

From ev'ry depth of good and ill

The mystery which binds me still-

From the torrent, or the fountain-

From the red cliffs of the mountain-

From the sun that round me roll'd

In its autumn tint of gold-

From the lighting of the sky

As it pass'd me flying by

From the thunder, and the storm

(When the rest of Heaven was blue)

Of a demon in my view

-Edgar Allen Poe

Chapter One

A Lesson in Seriousness

She screamed as her hands slapped against the cold ground. They had fallen right into a puddle and the water sprayed up, gravity pulling the water drops down again. A few hit her hands, some hit her shirt sleeve.

She scrambled to her feet and kept running. She could never stop. Never stop. Not after what had happened. Never.

She turned into a darkened ally, not caring anymore... She never cared anymore. She ran to the end of the ally, screaming and beating against the red brick with her fists.

WHY? WHY? Tears rolled down her cheeks. Was there any hope left?

The strength went out of her finally and she pressed her forehead against the cool brick, her fists still held against the wall. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. How could it of happened? Everything was fine... No.

She was not fine.

She blinked and tried once more to convince herself of the false lie she had conjured up in her mind. To deal with everything that had happened.

Everything is fine.

Everything is fine.

"Everything is fine," she whispered. "Everything is fine. Everything is fine. Everything is fine. I have lost nothing. Nothing at all." She looked to the dark sky, the clouds illuminated by the dim light of the moon. She smiled up at the sky. "Except my mind."

A giggle.

-----------------

She walked more slowly now. More slowly. The fear and pain threatened to overwhelm her. But she could take it. She's taken much more pain. Much more betrayal, broken promises. Nothing left. Was there nothing left for her anymore?

The skies opened up and began crying for her. She didn't care. Not about the rain, not about the fact that the sky was feeling sorry for her. She walked on slowly.

It didn't matter anymore, did it?

A smirk curves the lips.

And then it disappeared as soon as it had came. She stopped and looked into the rain. It carried her bangs back, disappearing into her mass of dark hair. She looked to her right and saw a store was there. She looked more closely at herself and was taken back.

Who was this girl?

Her back-length hair was slick and wet, sticking to her clothes. Her eyes were wide and fear-stricken. They were red too, as well as her nose.

Red... Like his...

She turned away from the window with sadness in her face. She kept on walking until she looked up again and found herself in the park. How long ago had she last came here? When she was really young, surely. She pressed her hand against a tree, staring at its branches.

Why was it that some things stayed beautiful forever? Like a demon, it stayed young for so long, until finally... it just couldn't go on anymore. Was it mocking her? She drew away and kept walking, almost feeling as though her hand was on fire with the tree's hatred.

The swing set came into view and she sat on the very first one she could reach, holding onto the bars with a hand. She pushed herself a little with her feet. Everything had left her. Everything at all.

Had she come to hate herself so much?

Had he hated her?

-----------------

Kagome rose in the quiet morning, staring out at the raising sun. She knew Inu-yasha was in a tree nearby. He was always nearby, to protect and watch over them. Almost like a mother would her child. Such a kind person for the act he put on. She could tell.

"Morning," she said lightly, knowing that he could hear her easily.

A grunt came from the tree a yard away on her left.

She looked over and smiled into the branches. He had been grumpy as usual. He had reason to, seeing as last night had been the new moon and of course, some kind of demon had decided to attack.

Inu-yasha jumped down and went over to her. "You okay?"

Kagome smiled as she knew he was talking about her hand. "Yes, it's fine."

In the fight yesterday, Kagome had her hand hurt by the demon, and of course, Inu-yasha, who hadn't been able to protect her, blamed it all on himself. Such a kind person...

He looked around at the campfire of people, a growl in his voice. "They sleep too much," he said mainly to himself instead of Kagome.

She smiled anyways. "Just give them a little longer. They'll be up before you know it." She yawned and stretched, walking over to her bag so she could change out of her blue pajamas and into her uniform. "I'll be back in a little while," she said, waving.

"Wait," he said.

She stopped and looked back at him. "Yes?"

"Wait until Sango's up."

Kagome smiled. "It's okay Inu-yasha, I'll only be behind this tree here. It's in sight enough."

He was going to open his mouth, but he stopped and let it go. "Fine."

Kagome frowned and put a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be okay, trust me."

-----------------

It hadn't.

She wasn't trustworthy.

It hadn't turned out okay. She had put her trust on something so stupid... What had she meant? It'll. What was it'll?

But nothing was fine. Nothing was fine anymore. Not after what had happened.

He was not to blame. He couldn't blame himself for this one. It was only herself that was to blame. It was all her fault. All her fault.

She gripped the chain harder as her tears fell. She could feel the chain biting into her skin. She didn't care.

Biting, biting, biting...

----------------

-Higurashi Residence-

She's still gone," Sota said.

Higurashi-san frowned. She knew her daughter better than this. What ever had happened? Kagome had just walked in this morning and stared at them like a zombie when they had called her name.

When Higurashi-san had mentioned Inu-yasha, Kagome had looked up with fear-stricken eyes, wide, like they were never going to close ever again. Then Kagome had ran off, not even taking her shoes with her. Just left.

Higurashi-san didn't like the thought of it. Kagome never acted like this. She was bright and cheerful and her happy little girl. What had happened in the Feudal Era?

Grandpa was out looking for her though. They had Eri, Ayumi, Yuka, and Hojo looking for her too. Their families were looking as well. She would of gone out herself, but Sota had to be looked after.

She stared out the window and saw the rain was pouring. Her little girl was out there. Grandpa was out there. Kagome's friends and their families were out there. She hoped that they would return soon, without a cold, but with a wet Kagome that she could comfort and hold to her chest.

A small pain had been nagging at her heart the whole time. This was not the usual pain that she felt when Kagome was gone. That pain was worry. Worry that Kagome would be hurt or... She never brought herself to think any farther than that.

But now that worry was combined with something else.

It felt a little like...

----------------

Loneliness.

That was it. The only thing she could think of right now other than him. He danced around her mind, taunting her, teasing her. She could almost hear him.

She looked in front of her and there he was standing.

She reached out, hopeful, but the image faded and it was just the rain again.

Just the rain...

----------------

I'm so tired of being here

Suppressed by all my childish fears

And if you have to leave

I wish that you would just leave

Because your presence still lingers here

And it won't leave me alone

These wounds won't seem to heal

This pain is just too real

There's just too much that time cannot erase

When you'd cry I'd wipe away all of your tears

When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears

And I've held your hand through all of these years

But you still have all of me

You used to captivate me

By your resonating light

But now I'm bound by the life you left behind

Your face it haunts my once pleasant dreams

Your voice it chased away all of the sanity in me

These wounds won't seem to heal

This pain is just too real

There's just too much that time cannot erase

When you'd cry I'd wipe away all of your tears

When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears

And I've held your hand through all of these years

But you still have all of me

I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone

And though you're still with me

I've been alone all along

When you'd cry I'd wipe away all of your tears

When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears

And I've held your hand through all of these years

But you still have all of me

----------------

Isn't something missing?

----------------

Poem is 'Alone' by Edgar Allen Poe

Song is 'My Immortal' by Evanescence

End Chapter One

A Lesson in Seriousness


	2. It Is Not Real

I do not own Inu-yasha

Alone

From childhood's hour I have not been

As others were-I have not seen

As others saw-I could not bring

My passions from a common spring-

From the same source I have not taken

My sorrow-I could not awaken

My heart to joy at the same tone-

And all I lov'd-I lov'd alone-

Then-in my childhood-in the dawn

Of a most stormy life-was drawn

From ev'ry depth of good and ill

The mystery which binds me still-

From the torrent, or the fountain-

From the red cliffs of the mountain-

From the sun that round me roll'd

In its autumn tint of gold-

From the lighting of the sky

As it pass'd me flying by

From the thunder, and the storm

(When the rest of Heaven was blue)

Of a demon in my view

-Edgar Allen Poe

Chapter Two

It Is Not Real

"How beautiful!" Kagome exclaimed as she leaned out of the carriage.

It was another carriage that Miroku had somehow "been given". She felt a little bad at that, but a carriage meant she wouldn't have to walk. And after yesterday's battle, that was good.

It was two days from when the new moon had occurred.

The day before, when Inu-yasha had asked her about her hand, another demon had attacked them, and this time, she had hurt her foot.

Inu-yasha sat across from her, a leg was up, the other through the gap it left. His arms were around the shin of the raised leg, his face lowered so that his bangs blacked out his face.

He hadn't been able to protect her again...

Sango and Shippo were up with Miroku and they were in the back. She raised a hand and put it over his own.

"Inu-yasha?"

He didn't say anything but twitched under her touch.

Kagome gasped. "Inu-yasha?" she said, her eyebrows raising in sadness and questioning. Was he...afraid of her? Was he...rejecting her?

He didn't say anything.

"Please Inu-yasha!" she said, sadness thick in her voice. "Please say something!" She could feel the tears run down her cheeks. He had never done this before, not since they had become friends. "Do you hate me?" she said. "Do you hate me?"

His head jerked up. "No!" he said. "I would never hate you!" A look of anger was on his face. His eyes gave away the slightest bit of hurt. "Why would you think that Kagome?"

She sniffled. "You drew away..."

"That...That's not it, Kagome," he said, trying to make it all better. He had never liked it when she cried, never liked it at all. But what was happening to him? He couldn't protect her, not like he used to be able to. Twice now, she had gotten hurt. "You're the one who should...hate me...," he said, leaning back against the carriage wall, looking off to the side.

Kagome wiped her tears away with the back of her hands. "I could never," she said.

Inu-yasha's eyes swiveled back to her. He watched as she finished wiping up her eyes and then smiled at him. His eyebrows lowered. Why was it that she never seemed to hate him, even after everything he had put her through? Was she unable to hate anything?

Sure...she had gotten mad plenty of times, but he had never heard the words 'I hate' come from her mouth, not once. Even after everything...he still couldn't understand her. Maybe he just wasn't meant to understand women...

"What's wrong?" Kagome said.

Inu-yasha looked at her for a little while longer. Finally, he allowed, "I can't protect you anymore, Kagome."

She smiled at him. "Oh, is that all? You're so silly Inu-yasha. I'm fine! You shouldn't beat yourself up."

Inu-yasha gave a gruff 'feh' and his arms were lost inside the sleeves of his red haori. Once again, his face was darkened by his bangs as he tilted his head down.

Kagome smiled, knowing that everything had been solved again.

----------------

Was it something that she had said? Is that why it had happened? If it was, she wanted so much just to fix it. She wanted him back. She didn't like what had happened. Didn't like it at all. She could still remember that voice, gruff, but so soft at times...

Those eyes... The way he had looked at her before going off to fight in that stupid battle...

"AM I SUPPOSE TO SUFFER?" she yelled.

They say there are different parts to losing someone.

There was the part where you denied it, the part were you were in devastation, the part where you got angry, the part where you were sad. Finally, you were just suppose to get over it, and walk around with a little bit of your heart gone always.

What if all of it was gone?

Would she slowly die, having no heart to pump the blood through her veins? Would she take her last breath, only for the oxygen to never make it to that blood?

You're so silly, ha ha.

She smiled to herself, a wicked smile carved out of insanity.

That was it, she would lose herself to insanity, never pulling herself out. A hole that got bigger, no matter how much you filled it back in with dirt.

Ha ha.

----------------

-Eri, Ayumi, and Yuka-

"Where could she be?" Ayumi said.

"I wonder if it was that double-dipping boyfriend of hers!" Yuka said. She thought to herself, deep in thought over it.

Eri stared at the ground. Where could Kagome be? This wasn't like her, disappearing. Her mother had said she had looked like she was dead.

"What if it was him?" Eri said finally. "What if something bad happened to him?"

The two looked at her.

"Eri, this isn't the time to be romantic!" Yuka said, thinking she would go off into one of her 'and-then-they'll-find-each-other-and-live-happily-ever-after' bits.

Eri shook her head. "No, that's not what I meant."

Yuka and Ayumi looked at each other with lowered eyebrows.

"Like what then?" Ayumi said.

"What if he...got hurt or something...and she feels like it was her fault?" Eri said.

"I don't know," Ayumi said, holding a hand to her cheek in thought. "Kagome's a down to earth girl, she could see that it wasn't her fault."

"Unless it was, of course," Yuka said.

The three of them looked at each other and wondered just what their friend could be doing now.

----------------

It was a new moon. She laughed to herself again. A new moon, of course. The most important night. It had to be that night. The rain stilled poured. A part of her mind told her to do something.

So she did.

She went to the tree and banged her head against it.

And again.

And again.

The second pain will cancel out the first, she told herself with a satisfied grin.

Maybe it was a smirk, she didn't really care.

"Higurashi-san."

"I...nu-yasha?" she said, looking behind her.

----------------

-Hojo-

He looked at her, watched as she slammed her head against the rough bark.

He winced every time he heard the impact.

Then his eyes caught the look on her face when she finally stopped. It chilled him to the bone and worried him. He might not look like he knew what was going on most of the time, but he knew, he knew...

"Higurashi-san," he called out.

"I...nu-yasha?" she said and turned her head slowly, her eyes full of hope and fear.

Her face crumpled when she saw who it was.

"Higurashi-san... Everyone's looking for you," he said. He closed the distance between them and put a hand on her shoulder. Nothing could heal this... Not even dried lizards...

She cringed underneath his touch and backed away, her face contorted in pain. "No!" she said. "NO! NO, NO, NO!" she screamed now, holding her head. "YOU'RE NOT HIM! YOU NEVER WERE!"

He felt a stab in his heart. He had known for awhile there was someone else, but he saw how she pretended there was nothing wrong. So he played along. He didn't want to embarrass her. But now, screaming the truth at him, yeah, it hurt some. But what really hurt was the condition she was in.

He couldn't stand it. She was in so much pain and he had no clue how to help.

"I know I'm not," he said finally. "I won't try to be him. I just want to help, Higurashi-san. I just want to help."

"You can't," she said, sliding down the tree trunk, her shirt catching on it and pushing the back up. She could feel the scratches but didn't care. "You can't help," she whispered, an octave lower. Sobs started to wrack her body, her face covered by her bangs. "No one can..."

He took a step closer. "Can I at least...take you home? Everyone is looking for you, Higurashi-san."

She looked up at him and smiled, but it was a cold, frozen one. "I'm insane."

"No you're not."

"Do you have something to cure that, Hojo-kun?" she said, standing up again and walking toward him. "What would it be this time? Drinks? Slippers? Oranges? How about some more of those lizards? You know, I didn't even use them. And that time you came over when I was sick? Yeah, you didn't help me at all with your gifts. It was _him_. It was _him_ who cured me. You couldn't do anything."

She was in front of him now. "I never liked you. All this time, you played along, and I loved him. Does it hurt you Hojo? Does it hurt? Could you ever hurt like I do?"

"Higurashi-san," Hojo said. "You're scaring me." She was never like this. Were was the smiling Kagome? The cheerful girl that always seemed to have some kind of illness, always disappearing, to be other places when he asked her out... Was that why? Was it him that took her away from school? Away from the dates that she said yes to? Or was it just her not wanting to be there? A mixture maybe?

"Good," she said under her breath, her face showing the littlest bit of pain for the first time.

He wondered if she had really meant it all.

"Go fuck yourself," she said, turning back to her tree and lying her head against it.

"Higurashi-san?"

"Go fuck yourself, fuck, fuck, fuck a duck, screw a kangaroo, fingerbang an orangutang, when you're in the zoo," she sang softly.

What had happened to her? Why was she so sad? What had happened...? "Higurashi-san... Are you going to be okay?"

"I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you. STOP LOOKING AT ME! THEY'RE ALL LOOKING AT ME!" She crumpled to the ground, holding her face in her hands. "Those eyes," she moaned in sadness. "Those eyes...AMBER!"

----------------

She winced as the talons struck her arm. It wasn't deep though, barely a glancing blow. A little bit of blood trickled down her arm anyways.

And then the bird demon was gone like that.

Inu-yasha bent down to her, Tetsusaiga still shining with the demon's blood. He grasped her arm tenderly and examined it.

"I'm fine, Inu-yasha, honestly," she said.

But he obviously didn't believe her as he ripped off some of the cloth of his red haori and wrapped it around her cut.

"Inu-yasha, it's not necessary!" she said. "It's just a little bit of blood."

"I don't care," he said honestly. He stood up. "At least it can protect you," he said mainly to himself as he started to walk away.

Kagome stood up. "Now wait a minute!" She stomped over to him and took his arm. "What's happening to you? Are you going insane? Nothing is wrong with your ability to protect me and the others!"

He looked back at her, disposed for a fight, it'd take his mind off of IT for a few minutes at least. "Oh? Is that what you call protecting? First your hand gets hurt, then, if I remember correctly, your leg gets hurt, and that was only in two days! It's been a flippin' week and you've been bruised and scarred numerous times and now you've got a flippin' cut!"

Kagome glared at him. "Maybe the reason you can't protect us is because you've got that kind of attitude! I know from experience that you can't do anything when you believe you can't!"

The others watched on uncaringly. They knew it'd all be over soon enough.

_Maybe Kagome will play with me_, Shippo thought to himself, pulling on a blade of grass.

Miroku did what he usually did, and Sango followed up afterwards with what she usually did.

They kept on screaming...

----------------

Please, please forgive me

But I won't be home again

Maybe someday you'll look out

And barely conscious you'll say to no one

Isn't something missing?

You won't cry for my absence I know

You forgot me long ago

Am I that unimportant?

Am I so insignificant?

Isn't something missing?

Isn't someone missing me?

Though I must sacrifice

You won't try for me no, no

Though I'd die to know you love me

I'm all alone

Isn't someone missing me?

Please, please forgive me

But I won't be home again

I know what you do to yourself

I breathe deep and cry out

Isn't something missing?

Isn't someone missing me?

Though I must sacrifice

You won't try for me no, no

Though I'd die to know you love me

I'm all alone

Isn't someone missing me?

And if I bleed

I'll bled knowing you don't care

And if I sleep just to dream of you

I'll wake without you there

Isn't something missing?

Isn't something...

Though I must sacrifice

You won't try for me no, no

Though I'd die to know you love me

I'm all alone

Isn't something missing?

Isn't someone missing me?

----------------

"Help me."

----------------

Poem is 'Alone' by Edgar Allen Poe

Song is 'Missing' by Evanescence

End Chapter Two

It Is Not Real

-Reviews:

Inuyasha's girl and kikiyo's hater: You'll find out.

Hirina: Okay.

Mr. Garrison: I could never write as good as Edgar Allen Poe.


	3. Broken

I do not own Inu-yasha

Alone

From childhood's hour I have not been

As others were-I have not seen

As others saw-I could not bring

My passions from a common spring-

From the same source I have not taken

My sorrow-I could not awaken

My heart to joy at the same tone-

And all I lov'd-I lov'd alone-

Then-in my childhood-in the dawn

Of a most stormy life-was drawn

From ev'ry depth of good and ill

The mystery which binds me still-

From the torrent, or the fountain-

From the red cliffs of the mountain-

From the sun that round me roll'd

In its autumn tint of gold-

From the lighting of the sky

As it pass'd me flying by

From the thunder, and the storm

(When the rest of Heaven was blue)

Of a demon in my view

-Edgar Allen Poe

Chapter Three

Broken

"Just go away. Help me." Kagome's eyes stared to the sky, seeing HIM in the stars. Connect the stars. "Go away. Help me." She wanted the boy alive in front of her to go away. The starry boy could help her. She always needed help. Was always so weak and pitiful... SO STUPID!

"Higurashi-san, I'm going to get your mother. Okay?" Hojo said. "Or maybe I'll get someone else..."

Her eyes swiveled down to his face, her own face still turned up, searching for something she knew wasn't there. "Are you like him? Do you know him? Little dog ears, he had. White. Amber eyes. I can feel him now, I can... I can feel THEM."

Hojo took a few steps back. "I'm going to get you some help Kagome."

"NO! NO!" she screamed, pounding her hands into the ground. "DON'T YOU DARE CALL ME THAT, YOU FUCKING BASTARD! I FUCKING HATE YOU! GO FALL INTO A FUCKING WELL AND BREAK YOUR NECK! DIE FROM MY MEMORIES LIKE HE DID! GO DIE! LET HIM COME BACK INSTEAD!"

Hojo stared at her with wide eyes. "Higurashi-san... I'm so sorry..."

She stood up and strode over to him. "I hate you so much. Bring him back. Bring him back with your blood." She grabbed his wrist and shoved a rock into it. "Hell," she said with an insane smile. "Bring him back with my blood." She placed the rock against her head. "Go ahead."

Hojo threw the rock away. "No, I won't. You need help, now!" He took her wrist and started leading her away.

"I hate you, I hate you, I hate you," she sang. "Why don't you go fuck Eri? She'll be willing. Maybe Yuka, or Ayumi. I want him to fuck me, him only. My sweet little Inu-yasha. I want him to move around and make you sooo jealous. Why don't you go ahead? Show me your pain. I know it's there. I know it's there. I know, I know."

Hojo tried not to do what she wanted, but she really was tearing his heart up. He knew that she just wanted someone else to hurt like she was, for whatever reason it was she was hurting. Misery loves company. She didn't mean these hateful things. Maybe she was going insane. It sure sounded like she was on some kind of drug. "It's going to be okay," he said.

"No it's not. That's what I said to him too."

He looked back at her and saw her face was in utter seriousness.

"But look what happened."

"Higurashi-san?" he said cautiously.

She smiled weakly. "I'm dying. I need help, I really do. I'm sorry, but you just can't help me like I need it. You just can't." She broke her wrist away from his grasp. "I'll just get it myself." She started to turn away. He laid a hand on her shoulder. She stopped.

"Higurashi-san, in all honesty...I love you. I don't care if you're not all there, or that you're in love with someone else. I love you, and I'm willing to stay by your side. I want to be able to help you, in any way I can. I love you."

She placed a hand over his. "I know you do. Thank you. But your love isn't what I need right now. I'm sorry." She broke out of his grasp once more and this time he watched as she walked off.

She knew exactly where she had to go.

---

"Come on Inu-yasha, stop complaining about it!"

"I'm not going to!" he yelled back.

"Oh! Go piss on a hydrant!" Kagome yelled, angry.

He looked at her blankly.

"Oh...that's right...you don't know what they are..." She felt a little foolish, but she really didn't care. She was mad, god dang it!

The perverted monk and female demon slayer watched on, uninterested in the latest fight between the two. A 'hmm' or 'uh' could be heard from one of them occasionally, but that was it. They, or rather Sango, was mad at each other too. Miroku just couldn't learn from his mistakes.

Shippo wasn't paying attention, preferring to braid flower garlands on the back of Kirara instead.

It was just another normal day.

And like most normal days, a demon decided to make them its lunch and/or try to take their jewel shards and/or just be plain annoying.

Inu-yasha feh'd. "This is just plain annoying!"

This time, it was a snake demon. The usual type too. Thinking it was all 'rad and bad', but in reality, it was just a third-grade nothing.

Inu-yasha looked back to see where Kagome was. He didn't want her to be hurt again. She had been hurt the last time, and the one before that, and the one before that... It was like a never-ending cycle. Well, he would be damned if he couldn't break it today.

He stepped in front of Kagome. "Stay behind me," he ordered. Kagome nodded. "WIND SCAR!"

The demon was disintegrated into nothing and there was an unmistakable smirk on his face as he realized that he had broken it.

Kagome smiled. She knew Inu-yasha would be in high spirits for the next few days. And even though his ego would be EXTREMELY hard to deal with, she would. If only because she knew it would make him feel better about his protecting skills.

---

-Higurashi Residence-

There was a knock on the door.

Higurashi-san opened it quickly to see it was a dripping wet Hojo.

"Oh, Hojo-kun!"

"I found her ma'am. I'm sorry to say that I didn't bring her back with me."

Higurashi-san searched his face. The pain there was unmistakable. A great deal of pain. "She's not herself, is she?"

"No, ma'am. I'm afraid not."

"She's going back, that's for sure," Higurashi-san whispered to herself. "Well, call the others and tell them she's been found and they can go home. Tell them she's safe."

"She's not safe. Not at all. She's a danger to herself. I saw her... I saw her ma'am. Self-destruction..."

Higurashi-san's eyes widen. "Was she...cutting?"

"No, but she was beating her head against a tree, hard and repeatedly. She had blood running down her face... Her hands were bleeding too..."

Higurashi-san put a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you Hojo-kun, but you should get home and call the others. I know where my daughter is, and she's perfectly safe now."

Hojo didn't believe her, but he nodded his head. "Yes, ma'am. I will."

---

-Higurashi Grounds-

Kagome watched as Hojo left and her mother looked over at the wellhouse, but went inside. So her mother knew. She crouched down from having looked through the holes in the door. She had to go back, because if she didn't, she would never be able to be the same.

She looked down into the darkness of the well. She really didn't like it. She hadn't really liked it when the centipede had taken her down either. She had gotten used to it though, and now... Now she was just going insane. He had always driven her insane.

She jumped over and felt the same sensation she always did. Hopefully they didn't reject her too much. Hopefully...

---

-Edo-

Shippo stared into the darkness that he knew led to Kagome's time. She had left the day before... It was dark now. She had left where they were and had probably spent the last day running to the well... He knew she was on the other side. She had been bawling when he had last seen her. Tears ran down his cheeks as well. He doubted any of them could stop crying.

Sango had ran to Miroku when it happened and he hadn't stopped comforting her yet. He had been crying silently too, being the strong one for them all. He showed them that it was okay to cry though. It was okay. He wiped his little cheeks with his miniature fists. He wanted Kagome back.

Then there she was. In the darkness of the well. Her eyes were wide as she saw him. "Kagome!" he yelled. He kept yelling her name as she slowly climbed the small ladder that Sango and Miroku had put in the well in case she would come back. They knew Inu-yasha couldn't help her.

She put one leg over the well and then the other. She just stared at him. "...Shippo...," she finally said.

After hearing the sound of her voice again, he couldn't help it. He threw himself into her arms and bawled even more. He could feel her chest choke up and down and smell her tears. She was mourning the most of them all. It was her fault...supposedly...

Kagome sank to her knees and held the kit against her tightly, the side of her head leaning on the top of his head. "Shippo!" she cried out, all of her brackish tears falling on his red hair. It darkened.

They stayed like that for awhile until their tears dried up. Then Kagome set him on the ground and they just looked at each other. They understood each other without even understanding. Green eyes bored into brown, brown into green.

"Where are they?" she asked quietly.

"Kaede's hut," he said.

She nodded and picked him again. She walked slowly to the village, holding him in her arms. She didn't know what they would act like. She didn't care. She knew Shippo at least loved her. That was enough. If he was able to love her still, that was okay.

"Are you afraid?" Shippo asked quietly.

---

Playground school bell rings again

Rainclouds come to play again

Has no one told you she's not breathing?

Hello I'm your mind giving you

Someone to talk to

Hello

If I smile and don't believe

Soon I know I'll wake from this dream

Don't try to fix me I'm not broken

Hell I'm the lie living for you so you can hide

Don't cry

Suddenly I know I'm not sleeping

Hello I'm still here

All that's left of yesterday

---

"Yes."

---

Poem is 'Alone' by Edgar Allen Poe

Song is 'Hello' by Evanescence

I promise I will start getting songs from new bands. Just hold on.

End Chapter Three

Broken

-Reviewer Responses-

Hirina-Thanks for loving it, I guess. This story kinda makes me sad, because she's crazy…

Mimblewimble-Actually, your review was really different. Thank you for all the lovely comments. I'm glad you cried, as pessimistic as that sounds, but I wanted people to cry over it. I wanted it to be the most emotional thing people had ever read. I mean, Kagome's goin' crazy…

Kagomente-I'll update ISOM when I want.

Mischievous Murderer-Okay, I will.


	4. Acceptance Cuts to the Bone

I do not own Inu-yasha.

Alone

From childhood's hour I have not been

As others were-I have not seen

As others saw-I could not bring

My passions from a common spring-

From the same source I have not taken

My sorrow-I could not awaken

My heart to joy at the same tone-

And all I lov'd-I lov'd alone-

Then-in my childhood-in the dawn

Of a most stormy life-was drawn

From ev'ry depth of good and ill

The mystery which binds me still-

From the torrent, or the fountain-

From the red cliffs of the mountain-

From the sun that round me roll'd

In its autumn tint of gold-

From the lighting of the sky

As it pass'd me flying by

From the thunder, and the storm

(When the rest of Heaven was blue)

Of a demon in my view

-Edgar Allen Poe

Chapter Four

Acceptance Cuts to the Bone

He stared into the sky. It was dark. Where was he? Did he care enough? An image before his eyes... A girl... He knew her... He could swear he knew her...

Knew her...

---

"I'm gonna protect you Kagome!" Inu-yasha called out. Kagome nodded and found her place behind him. It was an age-old routine now. After a wind scar, the demon was dead.

Kagome gave him a brilliant smile. "See Inu-yasha? There's nothing wrong with you. You just pushed yourself too much."

Inu-yasha didn't give her much of a response except for "Feh."

Kagome blinked. Whoa...she had set that up so he could brag but... For him to not take it? Something was wrong... "Are you okay Inu-yasha?" she asked, her smile turning on itself.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said gruffly. Kagome watched as he walked away. Soon he was nothing but a red dot on the horizon.

"Inu-yasha?" she whispered.

---

There was nothing worse. Nothing worse at all. It stood in front of her, laughing at her, taunting her. Kaede's hut. She knew they were in there. Shippo gave her a comforting pat and she inhaled, her breath stopping in her throat. No going back...

She walked inside and blinked as she tried to get use to the darkness.

"K...Kagome?"

She looked in the direction of the voice to see Sango sitting on the ground. Even from here Kagome could see the exterminator's puffy red eyes. The woman stood up and padded over. A hand reached out and touched Kagome's arm gently. "Kagome.." Sango enclosed her in a hug, crying again. "I didn't think you'd come back..."

Kagome leaned into the hug and held on too. "I didn't want to...but I had to...I was going nuts..."

The two women stood there and cried. They knew the other was hurting. They didn't even care if their clothes were getting all wet or...

---

He wondered if she remembered him too? How long had it been since he had seen her? How many days had gone by? He looked up to see that the moon was not shining on him. Not shining... A new moon. A new moon...

It had been a new moon that day too...

---

"Are you sure that was what it was?" Miroku asked. "We could of been wrong... He could be out there and we could be wrong."

Kagome shook her head. "No. It's the truth, as much as I don't want to know... It's the truth..."

Miroku looked over at her. "It's hard to imagine..."

Sango nodded silently. "It is... You could never think of him that way..."

Kagome patted Shippo on the head. He was sleeping quietly on her lap. Every now and then he'd twitch, but for the most part he was silent and resigned. "It's true..."

---

"Inu-yasha, what's the matter?" Kagome said, catching up to him again.

"It doesn't matter!" he said and starting stalking away again.

"It matters to me!" she said and took his hand to try and keep him from walking again.

"Maybe you should just go home."

Kagome's eyebrows rose in confusion. "What? Go home? Why?"

"Because...it's coming..."

"What's coming?"

Then he looked at her with those amber eyes... Such sadness and pain in those beautiful eyes. She wanted to replace those emotions. Wanted to fill them with light and laughter and happiness. She wondered if she ever could.

"It's better if you just went home."

"Inu-yasha!" Kagome cried out. "I told you I would stay with you, so please stop doing this!"

"I don't want you to get hurt! I don't want to see it happen like that!"

"Inu-yasha!"

He turned around and grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her gently. "I know it seems like I don't care, but I'll protect you. No matter what happens. I'll protect you. Because I don't want to see you hurt."

Her eyes were wide. "I...nu...yasha...?"

"Even if it means I have to keep you away from me, even if it means I have to send you back to your time..."

Kagome broke away from his grasp, shaking her head hard once. "No! I'm not ever leaving you again!" She shook her head once more. "I'm not going to leave you!"

"Just like I thought...," he grumbled, holding his head with a hand. He glared at her. "You really are a spoiled brat, you know?"

She smiled politely. "I'm still not leaving."

_Not leaving..._

---

Kagome smiled on the memory now. She had left after all, and so had he. She shook her head as she briefly heard her name being called. "Ah, yes?" she asked, turning her attention to the present fully.

"Our monk here has suggested we go back to the battle scene and look for him. We did too, but we couldn't find him... We thought that maybe you could...," Sango said, a pained look on her pretty face.

Kagome knew what the exterminator was talking about. She had given Inu-yasha that good luck charm... "We can try...," she said finally. "But tomorrow, maybe. I... I don't think I've quite gotten over it."

Miroku nodded. "We understand. We're upset too... I can only imagine how you feel, my dear Kagome."

She smiled at his obvious attempt to comfort her. "It's alright, Miroku. I'll get over it...in time... I was sorry that I... That it was my fault. I wasn't there in time." She looked down at her hands in her lap with a sad smile upon her face. Her hands were quite pale. At least she had regained most of her mind now. That was a plus at least. She didn't know if it was the air, or her friends, or just the time...but she knew that she would get better, she would just have to get better.

---

-Higurashi Residence, Present-

Higurashi-san watched as the rain still poured outside. Was it now crying for the loss of her baby to this world? Would Kagome not return this time, having been killed or even...having taken her own life? What had happened in the past? Why was her daughter so distressed?

She had once asked the young boy with dog ears to make sure that no harm came to her daughter. He had just did his trademark 'Feh' and muttered something. She was pretty sure that it had been something along the lines of _"Like I ever would"_. But now it seems that he had done exactly what she had asked him not to do. Somehow, he had harmed her more than any monster or demon that could ever make her bleed or cause her death...

What had he done? Had he died, or...was he hurt? Would she never get to touch his ears again, never make him ramen? Would she never see her daughter smile again?

She shook her head and stared out the window again. She couldn't be negative. Her daughter needed her to be positive, to be the strong one. She was a mother after all. Mothers were always strong for their daughters.

She had to be strong for Kagome now. Soon Kagome would be back, and she would hold her sweet little baby in her arms and tell her that it was okay, that everything would turn out to be the best.

Everything would be the best.

Everything would be the best for her little baby.

---

He stared as the sun was setting. Another day of not knowing where he was going. But the girl he knew, he really knew her. He knew he had to get back to her, at whatever cost. She was, after all, the girl he loved and cared for.

He had to tell her, had to let her know.

Just had to let her know.

---

-Edo, the past-

She tossed and she turned. Why was it still annoying her? Why was it still haunting her? She wanted it to go away... That dream...

---

It was the last one, he knew it was. That was the only thing it could be. Inu-yasha stared bravely ahead of him. Sango, Miroku, and Shippo stood with him. Kagome he had left behind. He had to. He knew that she would only get hurt. He didn't want that to happen to her.

This would be it. He could already smell the awful stench... That awful stench of Naraku's scent...

"Gods keep her," he breathed as he stared on ahead. The others continued to walk with him. He knew that they were scared. He was scared too. What if he died and never got to tell Kagome...? What if she was killed because he wasn't there? What if...

Damn, he hated those words. What if...

What if...

What if...?

---

-Edo, the next day-

"Kagome, you were tossing in your sleep again, are you okay?" Sango asked.

Kagome gave her a smile. "I'm not really sure of that anymore."

Miroku sighed. "He really is... He really is, isn't he?"

Kagome looked at the monk.

---

Take a photograph

It'll be the last

Not a dollar or a crowd could keep me here

I don't have a past

I just have a chance

Not a family or honest pleas remains to say

Rain, rain go away

Come again another day

All the world is waiting for the sun

Is it you I want

Or just the notion of a heart to wrap around

So I can find my way around

Safe to say from here

You're getting closer now

We are never sad

'Cause we are not allowed to be

Rain, rain go away

Come again another day

All the world is waiting for the sun

Rain, rain go away

Come again another day

All the world is waiting for the sun

To lie here under you is all that I could ever do

To lie here under you is all

To lie here under you is all that I could ever do

To lie here under you is all

Rain, rain go away

Come again another day

All the world is waiting for the sun

Rain, rain go away

Come again another day

All the world is waiting for the sun

All the world is waiting for the sun

All the world is waiting for the sun

---

"Yes. Inu-yasha is dead."

---

Poem is 'Alone' by Edgar Allen Poe

Song is 'Rain' by Breaking Benjamin

End Chapter Four:

Acceptance Cuts to the Bone


	5. I Love You

I do not own Inu-yasha.

Alone

From childhood's hour I have not been

As others were-I have not seen

As others saw-I could not bring

My passions from a common spring-

From the same source I have not taken

My sorrow-I could not awaken

My heart to joy at the same tone-

And all I lov'd-I lov'd alone-

Then-in my childhood-in the dawn

Of a most stormy life-was drawn

From ev'ry depth of good and ill

The mystery which binds me still-

From the torrent, or the fountain-

From the red cliffs of the mountain-

From the sun that round me roll'd

In its autumn tint of gold-

From the lighting of the sky

As it pass'd me flying by

From the thunder, and the storm

(When the rest of Heaven was blue)

Of a demon in my view

-Edgar Allen Poe

Chapter Five

"I Love You"

-Edo, the Present-

Well, the time had come. She rose and made sure her bag was as packed as it needed to be. She couldn't leave something behind in the rush of feelings.

So they would find him, or his body. Whichever was left. If he was alive, which she doubted ever so much, then she'd be happy and she'd scold him for leaving her and making her worry. If he be dead, then she's dig the grave herself and never leave its side. She would greave every day until she no longer had life in her.

Well, the time had come...

The time had come.

---

-Edo, the Past-

It was horrible. It was ugly. He wanted to run away and burn his eyes, taking the image from his mind forever. He was scared. For his friends, for his love, for himself. He had taken on bad things, very bad things, but this was the worst.

Something in the back of his head told him he might not make it this time. He shook his head mentally. If that one little bit of doubt stayed there, lingered, _haunted_ him, then it would become true, and he'd be in a shallow grave faster than you could say 'chicken-flavored ramen'.

It was horrible and ugly. No words could give grace to its features. It was horrible and ugly. Demons mashed together to form something that was nothing but what he could picture to be death itself. When it laughed at them, he could of swore that the ground shook and the snow fell off the mountains in the far-off distance.

He could make it. He would make it for her sake, for their sake. He was going to make it to see his wedding day, and his children. _Their_ wedding days. His grandchildren. He couldn't imagine children though. His next birthday then. He'd make it to that at least. "I promise you," he whispered under his breath. "I promise you, I will promise you everything I can give."

---

She had been left behind.

She stared off into the distance. She shouldn't of stayed. Even Shippo had gone. Even he had been brave enough to defy Inu-yasha. Why did she stay? She should of gone. That was it. She got up. She ran. She would make it. She was going to make it.

Was going to make it...

---

The battle had been going strong and the favor was for the beast.

He knelt, holding the hilt of his sword still, stopping to catch his breath. "Kagome," he muttered. Standing back up, he faced the monster, _DEATH_, once more. "You're not going to win," he whispered, glaring at what appeared to be death's eyes.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sango and Miroku fighting their hardest. A rare smile graced his lips. They were always there for him. For him and Kagome and Shippo... Speaking of the kit... He looked around, death's eyes currently on the fighting duo, looking for the little fox. There. He was at the foot of the monster, kicking it as hard as he could.

He shook his head. That kid was going to get himself killed. As fast as he could, he ran to the foot and grabbed up the child. Far away now, he set him down. "You're going to kill yourself doing that, and what is Kagome going to say?"

Shippo shrugged. "I don't know, ask her." He pointed behind Inu-yasha.

Inu-yasha's eyes widened. No. She couldn't of. He turned around slowly and saw that the miko girl had indeed come. She was standing maybe ten yards away from him. Just staring at him, asking him, practically begging him to disagree and yell at her to get away, to run far away.

Well, it was impolite to not do what people wanted.

He closed the distance. "Kagome you idiot!"

He shouldn't of. The monster turned itself towards them and Inu-yasha scooped her up in his arms to dodge the appendage that Naraku had sent their way.

The monster laughed. "So the girl has finally come." If the laugh had been bad, his voice was the worst.

Kagome shuddered and pressed herself closer to Inu-yasha, wanting so much to stay away from the thing. "Is it him?" she whispered.

Inu-yasha nodded. "Stay here," he commanded, settling her on the ground and bounding off to once again have a crack at their latest problem.

Kagome sat there and watched as her friends battled the thing, trying their hardest. It seemed that its eyes were on nothing but her. Was it her it wanted? Why was she so important? Why? Why?

---

-Edo, the Present-

He watched the sun. It didn't move. His hair was white. He wasn't old. His love wasn't with him. Had she died? Should he mourn now? His stomach hurt. Was he hungry, or just...injured? He couldn't move anymore, just like the sun, but in reality, he knew the sun was moving.

She had told him it moved.

He lay there, bleeding from numerous wounds and watching the sun. Something glittered around his neck. That was okay with him.

He just wanted to tell her that important thing.

He just wanted to tell Kagome that important thing.

---

-Edo, the Past-

She screamed as it moved and the earth moved from beneath her. One long arm held out to grab her up and take it with her. What did it want? What did it want? She cried, the tears streaming down her face as she scrambled up to run away. She was always running. She wasn't strong like Inu-yasha was...

The earth moved again and she tripped. No, the earth hadn't moved. It was a upturned root, providing a little hole for her foot to slip into. She pulled it out quickly and stood up, running again. Crawl or run, she didn't care, she'd get away. It'd pull Death away from the others anyways.

Maybe she could be strong. Maybe she could...

---

-Edo, the Present-

They had been traveling for a while now. How ironic. It was so sad to travel with a companion missing. And if he'd never come back, they'd forever be short one.

She stared at the ground. How sad it was, nothing seemed to care that one less person was gone. She cared. The person she loved with all her heart was gone. Maybe forever. Maybe she'd never get to see that hesitant smile again, or those bangs that fell so boyishly over his face, or hear that voice of his, so gentle sometimes. She knew it was for those sentimental times that she stuck around. She stuck around to receive any kind of affection he'd give her.

Any kind.

"Kagome."

She looked up and saw Miroku was talking to her. He'd become sort of like a vice-leader, a back-up for Inu-yasha. "Yes, Miroku?"

"We're going to stop here for a while to rest and eat."

She nodded and looked around. A river on her right and more trees to her left. So many trees around in this time. He loved to sleep in trees...

Too many memories in this time, but she knew she had done the right thing.

She hoped God could do the right thing and let him live.

---

-Edo, the Past-

Inu-yasha had watched as the beast had slowly turned to Kagome, its arm reaching for her. _Run!_ he had screamed in his head. It seemed like she had gotten his message. She turned and ran away. It moved and she tripped. He lost his own footing, falling in his mad dash to get to Kagome.

He got up and was on his way again. He had speed over this huge thing. But speed could be enough.

The thing kept on after her, was gaining on her in all of its weight. No possible way...

Kagome cried out. She was blocked in by a ring of demons. No doubt part of the monster behind her. He couldn't take it, had to get to her, and _now_. He stopped and aimed his sword toward the bottom part of the thing's leg. If he could just immobilize it...  
"Bakuryu-ha!"

It was working! Yes! ...No! The wind tunnel had tore through the leg of the horrid beast, but the leg just grew again. Had he let himself become so stupid?

Kagome screamed again. One of the demons had her in its grasp. Just what was so important about Kagome?

---

-Edo, the Present-

The sun was setting. Another day without Inu-yasha. It had been two days now. Two...

She saw there was no moon. How interesting... The new moon had been up for the past...was it three or four? That's right, it had only been two days since the disappearance of the moon.

A look of torture overcame her face. What if... What if it had died because of Inu-yasha? What if... What if it was a sign that Inu-yasha really _was_ dead?

No, that was silly talk. She had to stay optimistic. Had to stay positive for him.

Her gaze fell on the stars. But what if...?

---

-Edo, the Far Past-

"You see that moon?" she asked.

He looked at it. "Yes."

"Tomorrow it will be gone. It's called a new moon."

He stared at the woman behind him, her arms around him, pulling him up against her. "But..."

She smiled down at him, a pretty woman's smile. "It's going to be okay."

"I don't want it to leave."

She smiled at him again. "One day when you're older...I can tell... You're going to make it through though, because you're my little child, my little boy. You're strong, like your father. So when it comes, will you make me a promise?"

He nodded. "What Mama?"

"Promise me that you'll do everything in your power to find her."

He was confused by what it was she wanted, but he nodded again. "Okay Mama."

She smiled sadly at him. "Because I'm not going to be there for you... I'll already be gone."

He couldn't imagine it, life without his mother, so he just scrunched up his eyebrows and stared at her smooth face. "You're not ever going to leave me Mama, you love me."

She smiled softly at him and stroked the side of his face. "I do, my dear, I do so very much. I just hope that she'll love you more than I ever could."

---

-Edo, the Present-

She had risen with the sun, perched on the lowest branch of a tree. She felt like it was an obligation to watch over the others like he had done. They were still sleeping peacefully.

She sighed. Only a while until they got to the place where they had last seen him. Would they find nothing? Or a body? Or would they find an Inu-yasha covered in blood, yelling at them to help him the fuck up.

It felt weird to wish for the last one, for wasn't it she herself that wished he wouldn't yell at them? And curse at them? Was it weird for her to wish he be vulgar? _No_, she decided, not if he was alive... _I'll tell him...I'll make him remember. I'll do anything..._

The sunlight pushed its way into her eyes and she raised a hand to shade them from those bright rays. "So Inu-yasha... Are you going to stay alive for me?"

---

-Edo, the Past-

Somehow she broke away from the demon's grasp, running toward Inu-yasha with a terrified expression on her face. "Inu-yasha!" she screamed, as though the name alone was something that could protect her. Well, it wasn't. _He'd_ have to do it.

"Stupid baka!" he yelled. She was such a stupid wench! He ran to her and grabbed her up in his arms, dashing away, far, far away. The demons were too slow.

"You idiot!" he yelled. "I told you to stay behind!"

She shook her head furiously. "I couldn't! I couldn't just leave my friends!"

He glared at her. "I want you to run, run far away. Go back to your time. He's after you and you alone."

"No! I'm not going to run!" She glared at him, hoping to God she'd win this fight, but Inu-yasha wasn't going to have it.

"God damn it all, if I have to physically take you there and shove you through, I fucking will!"

She gave him a hurt look, about ready to cry. "I want to stay with you! I told you I'd always stay by your side! You told me I could! Are you going back on your word?"

He slammed her against his chest. "No, Kagome, no. Don't say that, I don't want you to die, if it was not for that, I'd gladly let you stay. You mean too much to me, don't you fucking get that? And I swear to the Heavens and the seven Hells below, I will come for you when this is over." He pulled her away to watch her wipe an eye with the green fabric of her cuff gatherers. "So will you please, just for this once, will you please stop being such a stubborn baka and go home?"

She nodded and he gave her a rare smile.

"Thank you Kagome."

"Promise," she said.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Promise me that you won't die! I'll never forgive myself." She glared at him. "And if you do die, I swear to the Heavens and the seven Hells below, I'll come and beat the shit out of you myself!"

He held his little miko to him once more and then helped her onto the ground. "Hurry, he'll be coming soon and I want you as far away as possible. Stay out of sight and try to not get yourself killed, eh?"

She nodded and she started running, only pausing to look back once and he could of sworn he saw her lips move and form the words "I love you", but he decided he was being delusional. Even still, he muttered it himself. "Kagome, I love you."

He knew she didn't hear it though and he stared as she ran away, trying to memorize the way she looked and how exactly it was she ran. The way her skirt flipped up a little bit with every stride.

Hell, it was the last time he'd see her.

---

This night, walk the dead  
In a solitary style  
And crash the cemetery gates  
In the dress your husband hates  
Way down, mark the grave  
Where the search lights find us  
Drinking by the mausoleum door  
And they found you on the bathroom floor

I miss you, I miss you so far  
And the collision of your kiss that made it so hard

Back home, off the run  
Singing songs that make you slit your wrists  
It isn't that much fun, staring down a loaded gun  
So I won't stop dying, won't stop lying  
If you want, I'll keep on crying  
Did you get what you deserve?  
Is this what you always want me for?

I miss you, I miss you so far  
And the collision of your kiss that made it so hard

Way down, way down  
Way down, way down  
Way down, way down  
Way down, way down

I miss you, I miss you so far  
And the collision of your kiss that made it so hard

When will I miss you, when will I miss you so far?  
And the collision of your kiss that made it so hard  
Made it so hard

Way down, way down  
Way down, way down  
Way down, way down  
Way down, way down

Way down

---

"I love you Kagome."

---

Poem was "Alone" by Edgar Allen Poe.

Song was "Cemetery Drive" by My Chemical Romance

End Chapter Five

"I Love You"


	6. Conclusion

I do not own Inu-yasha.

Alone

From childhood's hour I have not been

As others were-I have not seen

As others saw-I could not bring

My passions from a common spring-

From the same source I have not taken

My sorrow-I could not awaken

My heart to joy at the same tone-

And all I lov'd-I lov'd alone-

Then-in my childhood-in the dawn

Of a most stormy life-was drawn

From ev'ry depth of good and ill

The mystery which binds me still-

From the torrent, or the fountain-

From the red cliffs of the mountain-

From the sun that round me roll'd

In its autumn tint of gold-

From the lighting of the sky

As it pass'd me flying by

From the thunder, and the storm

(When the rest of Heaven was blue)

Of a demon in my view

-Edgar Allen Poe

Chapter Six

Conclusion

-Edo, the Present-

Kagome stopped. The group paused.

"What is it?" Miroku asked, coming up behind the young miko.

"This place..."

"Yes?" the demon exterminator asked, wishing for her to continue.

"This was the last place that I saw Inu-yasha." Kagome looked around and then started running, running back to where it was that the battle had taken place. If he was anywhere, that's where he would be. That's where he would be.

That's where he would be.

---

-Edo, the Past-

Sango and Miroku struggled against the thing. It had started to go after Inu-yasha and Kagome and they couldn't let it hurt their friends. They had to distract it.

"Hiraikotsu!" Sango yelled and threw the overlarge boomerang. Where it had killed demons large and small alike, it now only managed to slice open a leg. "Damn it!" she yelled. It came back and she tried once more.

"Foolish mortals," Naraku boomed with that horrendous voice of his. "You will never win. Just give up." He sent swarms of demons their way and the duo, along with Shippo and Kirara, began the exhausting work of slaying them all.

"WIND SCAR!"

The thing stopped in its track as a attack known to kill hundreds of demons merely cut off its leg. "So you come back, Inu-yasha. Where is the miko?"

Inu-yasha glared at the thing. "Like I'm gonna tell you that information." Inu-yasha got ready for another attack, but something stopped him. What was this...feeling? He had to perform the Bakuryu-ha now or... But something just held him back. How could they defeat this thing then? How?

Something in him told him the answer and he accepted it. It would work for now. He started jumping his way up to the demon's height.

There was only two things on his mind.

One, was the miko he had left behind.

The other, was Naraku's heart.

---

-Edo, the Present-

Something drawing closer and closer. What was it? It was a nice feeling. But the emotions were running rampage. He wanted to hold that thing, make it feel better. There was... What were those emotions.

Fear... Nervousness, excitement...hope... And was that... Was that...love?

What was this thing that drew nearer and nearer? He tried to move, but it hurt to move now. Hurt to move.

He knew what was hurting him.

It was a human thing...a human thing called a _heart_.

What was this thing coming nearer?

---

She ran and ran. Her legs hurt now. Hurt a lot, but she kept on running. She would run for his sake. She just had to get there, and when she did... Well, her whole life depended on this. She stopped.

Miroku and Sango had already looked, right? What if...

She shook her head. That didn't matter now. Didn't matter. She continued to run again, run and run and run and run.

And run and run and run and run.

Run and run and run.

---

-Edo, the Past-

He had finally reached it, the beast's heart. Naraku had tried his best to keep the hanyou away from his body, maybe fearing what it was that was coming from the half-blooded boy.

Inu-yasha dove and the Tetsusaiga hit the thing's chest.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU INSOLENT FOOL!" the thing shrieked, trying to push the boy off its chest.

Inu-yasha's ears were screaming from the shriek of the beast and it had clawed up his back some, but he continued to hold onto the hilt of the Tetsusaiga and he drove it deeper and deeper.

Black blood sprayed onto him and he didn't care. He dove the sword deeper and deeper.

The thing kept screeching and trying to fling the hanyou off, knowing what he was up to now. A significant amount of blood splattered the boy's face and he knew he had hit the heart. It wasn't very deep, considering how enormous the beast was. He cut his way in and was covered head to toe in blood. He was in the heart now and there was only one thing he would do. He began to tear the heart up from the inside.

The thing's voice boomed all around him and he could actually see that Naraku was trying to claw his way in through his chest. But Inu-yasha finished the job before the monster could even touch him and leapt his way out of the horrid thing.

He reached the ground and he saw the others with grim smiles as they realized that they had made it, they had done it. In his hand was something important that he had found inside the heart. Well, he'd give it to Kagome...he'd give it to her.

Then there was red and then black, and as his vision died away, he could of swore he heard a young voice yell.

"DADDY!"

---

-Edo, the Present-

Kagome had finally reached it, the battle scene. She saw Naraku's dead form a few yards off from her, now down to human size once more. There was no apparent sign that Naraku was anything but a human now, no demons, no purple mists.

Kagome stepped back in surprise as a ivory feather landed beside it, two occupants on it. A woman in kimono with black hair and a young albino girl with no emotion at all.

Kagura looked from her dead master to the miko. "Who did this?"

Kagome swallowed her fear and stood tall, her eyes forming slits. "Inu-yasha did."

The wind demon looked back at her master and then closed her eyes and nodded. "Well then, bring him out so that I can thank him."

Kagome didn't move, but her face rearranged itself.

Kagura looked at her once more. "Don't tell me he's died."

"Of course not!" Kagome said, still not looking at Kagura. "Inu-yasha never dies, never. He's really strong and he..." She looked at the woman that controlled the winds with an intensity she never knew she had. "He promised me! He promised me he would come back!"

Kagura held the tip of her fan to her mouth. "So you really don't know then, do you?" She looked back at the miko. "Well then, good luck finding him." With that, she turned to rid the world of the body of Naraku.

Kagome turned, but then remembered the jewel... She turned back, but didn't feel anything from the hanyou's body. Sighing, she turned again and looked around at the trees that encircled the clearing of the last battle Naraku had ever seen.

Something struck her. Why hadn't she felt it before? The Shikon Jewel! She could feel it. If anyone had it, it was Inu-yasha! She began running again, wanting nothing more than to find that silver-haired boy she had given her heart to.

---

There was something close to him. It was that same thing as before. So familiar. That smell... Kagome! It was Kagome. He opened his mouth, pain shooting through him, and he didn't know where it came from.

"KAGOME!" he shouted. "KAGOME!" His hand tightened against a smooth sphere. The Shikon Jewel, his head told him. That was right, he had pulled it from the heart of the hanyou known as Naraku. Then Naraku had died...and then what?

The sound of running feet came closer and closer and he grimly smiled. She would be here.

Kagome broke through the tree line and spotted Inu-yasha there. She stopped. Her eyes were wide and Inu-yasha could smell at least a thousand different emotions on her. Concern, nervousness, happiness, and the most important of all.

Inu-yasha gave her a smile. "Hey wench."

A gigantic smile broke her face and she ran to him, tears streaming down her pale cheeks. Kagome jumped and latched herself onto him, making him grunt. "Oh Inu-yasha! I'm so sorry, so sorry!"

He smiled as it looked like her smile would be permanently plastered to her pretty face. He reached up a hand and put it on her hair, stroking it. "Kagome."

She buried her head into his haori. "Inu-yasha, Inu-yasha, Inu-yasha..."

He kept on smiling gently. She looked up at him and just stared at his eyes for a while, before she started to lean up, but then hesitated. Her eyes shifted down but then looked back up at him and then leaned forward against and pressed her lips against his.

Where she had expected him to push her away, his arm wrapped around her back and pressed her against him, deepening the kiss. When she finally drew away, she was breathing a little ruggedly. "Inu-yasha," she breathed out.

He smiled at her and stroked her cheek with a hand. "I told you. I told you that I'd stay alive."

She glared at him suddenly. "You told me you'd come for me! I got worried...and then I ran back... I saw it... I saw it as he... As he..." She turned her head away and tears formed on her eyes again.

"What did he do?" Inu-yasha asked her.

Kagome looked back at him and gave him a sad smile. "It'd be better if you didn't know."

"Why'd it take you so long to find me?" he asked.

She looked away again, ashamed. "I...ran home... I couldn't take it and... I somewhat lost my mind... And I hurt a friend of mine very badly. I will have to apologize to him."

Inu-yasha's eyes slit. "That stupid Homo guy?"

Kagome glared at him. "His name is Hojo!"

Inu-yasha glared at her. "Well why do you care? What, do you love him?"

Kagome glared back with a higher intensity. "You stupid baka! How could you even say that! I love you!" She gasped as it came out of her mouth. She hadn't really meant to say that...it just came out.

Inu-yasha stared at her with wide eyes and then he smiled and started laughing.

"And what's so funny?" Kagome asked, glaring at him.

He leaned down and caught her mouth in another soul-searing kiss. When he pulled back, he smiled gently at her and wiped away the tears on her face, as well as the rivers they had made on her cheeks. "You see, it is funny. Because I love you too." A chuckle escaped his mouth again.

"Well, I find nothing funny about that!" Kagome said. Her hand moved to his neck and she pulled the locket out from the depths of his haori. "Maybe I'll just get rid of this and say the 's-word' a million times!"

His hand closed over hers. "No...let's leave that be." He smiled at her. "Good luck charms aren't meant to be taken away."

She looked back up at him just as the rest of their group emerged from the woods.

"Inu-yasha!" Sango exclaimed.

"DADDY!" Shippo yelled and ran to the fallen boy, hanging onto his arm. Then he froze as he realized exactly what it was he had said AGAIN!

Inu-yasha smiled gently at the little kitsune. "So it was you...who called me that...back then."

Shippo turned around, crossing his arms and legs. "It's not like I really meant it or anything..."

Inu-yasha picked up the kitsune and held him against his chest. "It's okay, Shippo. I don't care."

He looked over at Kagome. "So...are you going to marry Mommy...?"

Inu-yasha's eyes widened and a blush formed over his cheeks.

Kagome laughed a little and then smiled at Shippo. "You know what, Shippo?" she said, taking the kitsune from Inu-yasha gently and holding him in her lap. She leaned down and whispered into his ear. "We might just."

Shippo smiled. "So Inu-yasha finally told you Kagome?"

Kagome laughed a little more. "Yep, he did."

Shippo nodded as if it was final. "Good."

Miroku and Sango joined the little group and somehow it didn't seem like anything was missing anymore.

"We should treat those wounds, Inu-yasha," Miroku said. "I'm surprised you could move at all, and especially this far from the battle."

Inu-yasha shrugged. "All I remember is red and then black, the kid's voice, and then I woke up here. But...the moon... It was strange."

"You noticed too?" Kagome asked. "It's been a new moon for a while now. I thought that maybe it had something to do with you."

Inu-yasha shrugged. "I don't know, but...here." He stretched out the hand holding the Shikon Jewel and open the fingers, showing her what was inside it.

"It's...complete..." She looked over at Sango.

She didn't say anything, but looked down instead. Miroku moved to comfort the woman.

"You know what, Inu-yasha?" Kagome said. "This doesn't belong to me. It's yours." She took his hand and put it in the palm, closing the fingers around the little jewel.

Inu-yasha looked at his hand and then looked around at the group around him that had become his family over the course of a year. He closed his eyes and then opened his hand for them all to see the jewel shimmer and vanish into dust.

"What did you wish?" Kagome asked.

He smiled at her. "If I tell you, it won't come true."

Kagome blinked at him and then smiled.

A noise came from the trees around them and Inu-yasha growled as he recognized that smell.

Kagura came through the woods with the body of a young boy, maybe ten or eleven in her arms. "You might just want this, seeing as you did help kill Naraku and all," she said and placed the body in front of Sango. Then she started walking back. She stopped and then looked back at Sango. "He was lying... Naraku, I mean. That jewel was only there to control the boy, not to allow him to live."

Sango looked at her brother to see that he was indeed breathing. She looked back up at Kagura with tears in her eyes. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

Kagura waved it off like nothing. "It is really I who should be thanking you." She looked back at Kagome and Inu-yasha. "I guess he kept his promise, eh, Miko?"

"Why did he want me?" Kagome asked. "Why did he want me?"

Kagura shook her head. "It is better for you not to know."

"I want to know," Kagome asked.

Kagura sighed. "He was a true beast. He wanted to control you and your miko powers... But...there's only one way to do that."

Kagome's eyes slitted and Inu-yasha started growling as they both knew what was probably to come next. "And what is that?"

"Rape, of course. If it is not rape, then it will not work. So if Inu-yasha there was to take you, he could not control you. But with Naraku, that would have been easy, don't you think?" She looked back at the group once more before she walked off into the woods.

Inu-yasha looked at Kagome. "I told you."

"Don't even start that Inu-yasha."

---

And it's all in how you mix the two

And it starts just where the light exists

It's a feeling that you cannot miss

And it burns a hole

Through everyone that feels it

Well you're never gonna find it

If you're looking for it, won't come your way, yea

Well you'll never find it

If you're looking for it (Looking for it)

Should've done something, but I've done it enough

By the way, your hands were shaking

Rather waste some time with you

And you never would of thought in the end

How amazing it feels just to live again

It's a feeling that you cannot miss

It burns a hole through everyone that feels it

Well you're never gonna find it

If you're looking for it, won't come your way, yea

Well you'll never find it, if you're looking for it (For it)

Should've done something, but I've done it enough

By the way, your hands were shaking

Rather waste some time with you

Should've said something, but I've said it enough

By the way, my words are fading

Rather waste some time with you

Time with you (Time with you, time with you, time with you, some time with you)

Waste some time with you

Should've done something, but I've done it enough

By the way, your hands were shaking

Rather waste some time with you

Should've said something, but I've said it enough

By the way, my words are fading

Rather waste my time with you

Should've done something, but I've done it enough

By the way, my hands were shaking

Rather waste some time with you

Waste some time with you

Waste some time with you (Waste some time with you, waste some time with you, waste some time with you)

Waste some time with you

Waste some time with you

(Should've done something, but I've done it enough

By the way, your hands were shaking

Rather waste some time with you)

---

"I love you."

---

Poem was "Alone" by Edgar Allen Poe

Song was "Blue and Yellow" by The Used

End Chapter Six

Conclusion

Author's Goodbyes and Thank-yous:

Well, it's been fun. I had a great time and I hope that this will touch at least one of you guys. I know a lot of you said it made you cry, and even though it sounds somewhat sadistic, I'm glad about it. This story was meant to be my most emotional and most heartwrenching story...yet... Maybe I'll come out with another sad story...

Though there are no definite plans, there could be some groundwork for a sequel. But that really depends on if anyone actually wants it. :smiles:

And I know that you're all going to yell at me 'cause it's so short, but that's okay. I didn't mean for this to be long. I mean, how long can Kagome look for Inu-yasha, and how long can Inu-yasha have what one reviewer called "intense amnesia", or something like that? I'd like to address that now... He didn't have amnesia. I have too many stories with amnesia to give this one it too. He knew who he was, and he knew who Kagome was... But it's a little too hard to explain now. :winks:

But yes, these are my last goodbyes, if only for this story. And, like always, thank you so much for reading and reviewing! (Or just reading.) You could not understand how much it makes me smile when I see how people actually enjoy my little ramblings. And to get all emotional over the stories! That just blows my mind away more than any gun could.

Well...I'm made enough of a corny fool of myself, so farewell, adieu, sayonara, adios, and many more goodbyes in languages I do not know!

-candysweet

End Story

Alone

(Until the sequel...maybe...)


End file.
